Nicolas Cage in Talks for The Green Hornet

Columbia Pictures is in early talks with Nicolas Cage to play the gangster villain in The Green Hornet, reports Variety.

Cameron Diaz is negotiating to play a reporter and love interest in the Michel Gondry-directed film that stars Seth Rogen as the masked crime fighter.

The picture is moving full steam ahead for a fall start date, even as the studio looks to replace Stephen Chow, who was going to play sidekick Kato. Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote the script and Neal Moritz is producing through his Original Films.